Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Michael Thomas <mdthomas AT mindspring.com>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [sungroup] FC: French MPs propose open source software law,
access to source  code
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 15:49:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: Paul Jones <pjones AT metalab.unc.edu>


french socialists press for open code. will all documentation be
required
to be bilingual as well? this is quite a turn for a country that
persists
in supporting "artists' moral rights" to works even after the works have
been sold and resold several time.

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 13:45:29 +0200
From: Jean-Yves Le Déaut <jy AT ledeaut.org>
Subject: [PR] French MPs propose to generalise the use of open
standards, 
access to the source code and introduce the 'right to develop compatible 
software'

    French MPs propose to generalise the use of open standards, access
to
        the source code and introduce the "right to develop compatible
                                  software"

                               Paris, 4/21/2000

                            For immediate release

                            http://www.osslaw.org

    Paris, 4/21/2000 - Jean-Yves Le Déaut, Christian Paul & Pierre
Cohen,
    3 socialist French MPs belonging to the governmental majority, are
    proposing a law in order to "increase liberties and consumer
    protection, and improve economic competition in the information
    society". This law requires the use of open standards as well as
    software which source code is accessible in all public
administrations
    and organisations. Moreover, this law guarantees the possibility for
    anyone to freely develop, publish and use compatible software, even
in
    the case a patent or a trademark was filed for some communication
    standard.

    This law is based on 5 historical, juridical or constitutional
    principles: free access to public information, retrievability of
    public data, national security, consumer security and
    interoperability.

    The principle of free access to public information requires that
    whenever digital data is exchanged with citizens or between public
    administrations, the way this data is encoded and exchanged should
not
    depend on the technology of a single vendor but rather use public
    encoding techniques and protocols, also known as open communication
    standards. Therefore, Article 1 states that "whenever exchanging
    digital information, public administrations, organisations and
    agencies are required to use open communication standards, based on
    public rules and processes to exchange digital data."

    The principle of retrievability of public data requires that digital
    data created and archived by public administrations should be
    retrievable in its original form at any point in time, even after 10
    or 20 years, even if the software which was used to create this data
    is no longer maintained by its vendor. The only way to guarantee
this
    is to use software which source code is available. Moreover,
    considering the recent advances of the Echelon digital intelligence
    system, access to the source code is also required for national
    security in order to ensure that software used by public
    administrations and organisations do not include security holes.
    Therefore, Article 2 states that "public administrations,
    organisations and agencies are required to use software which source
    code they can access."

    In order to raise the level of competition in the information
society,
    this law guarantees the right to develop compatible software. This
law
    protects commercial publishers of proprietary software and developer
    communities of free software against anticompetitive strategies by
    enforcing in a practical matter the interoperability principle
    introduced in the European software directive of 1991. Therefore,
    Article 3 states that "any individual or moral person has the right
to
    develop, publish and use an original software which is compatible
    whith the communication standards of another software."

    More competition means more choice for the consumer, thus more
    security. And, as it has been proven lately, more competition from
    free software means more open standards and higher privacy because
    free software can be freely adapted, redistributed and modified to
fit
    each customer's needs. As a consequence, this law tends to increase
    liberties and consumer protection in the information society.

    This law can be implemented immediately because most software
    publishers are ready to adopt open communication standards such as
    those defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the
Internet
    Engineering Task Force (IETF). Most publishers of proprietary
    software, including Microsoft, have also publicly stated that they
are
    ready to grant the French administration access to the source code
of
    their products.

    This law reminds that, in a market economy, States can play a
    significant role on the economy and preserve the public interest.

   References

    Constitution française -
    http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/frame_constitution.htm

    Directive de 1991 sur le logiciel -
    http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/fr/lif/dat/1991/fr_391L0250.html

    Application de l'Article 19 du code des marchés industriels -
   
http://www.industrie.gouv.fr/biblioth/docu/dossiers/ntic/gfii/sb_gf-22htm

    Code de la propriété intellectuelle - Article L122-6-1 -
   
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/citoyen/code04.ow?heure=141439010341&code=CPROINTL.rcv&f3_article=L122-6-1

   About Jean-Yves Le Déaut, PhD

    Jean-Yves Le Déaut, 55, is a socialist member of parliament elected
in
    the Meurthe-et-Moselle prefecture (Lorraine). He is the chairman and
    co-chairman of the Office of Technology Assessment. He is author of
    reports on nuclear energy, waste, geneticaly modified organism, AIDS
    and research policy. As a professor of University, he is national
    delegate for technologies at the French Socialist Party.

    http://www.ledeaut.org

   About Christian Paul

    Chistian Paul, 40, has been a socialist member of parliament elected
    in the Nièvre prefecture (Bourgogne) from 1997. He is in charge of
the
    research group on new information and communication technologies at
    the national parliament and organised the first French Days on
    Internet. He is national secretary for agriculture and rural
    development at the French Socialist Party.

    http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/tribun/fiches_id/2338.htm

   About Pierre Cohen

    Pierre Cohen , 40, has been a socialist member of parliament elected
    in the Haute Garonne prefecture (Midi Pyrénées) from 1997. He is
    responsible for research for the social group at the national
    parliament and, together with Jean-Yves Le Déaut, wrote a report on
    the French Research Policy which was provided in 1999 to the French
    Prime Minister.

    http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/tribun/fiches_id/891.htm

   Press Contact

    Jean-Yves Le Déaut
    Phone: 01 40 63 88 10
    Email: jy AT ledeaut.org

    http://www.osslaw.org
    http://www.ledeaut.org


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